Some sports, including baseball and softball and variations thereof, require a person to swing a bat at a ball with the hope of scoring runs that will ultimately lead to victory. The parts of a baseball bat include the knob, which is the end of the bat closest to the handle, the taper between the knob and the handle, the handle, the throat which is located next to the handle and opposite the knob, a second taper region, which is located between the throat and the barrel of the bat, the barrel, and the tip, which is the end of the bat immediately adjacent to the barrel. The proper swing is handle first or more commonly and correctly, knob first. The batter's hands and elbows should stay close to the body and pull the handle or knob of the bat downward and forward toward the hitting zone, leaving the barrel behind and creating lag in the bat. As the elbow and hands near contact, the barrel catches up and surpasses the hands, snapping through to contact. Further, the batter should have the proper palm up hand position at contact, meaning that if the batter is swinging right-handed the right palm should be facing up at impact and the opposite if the batter is swinging left-handed.
Using the proper swing is important to success in the above-mentioned sports. Accordingly, devices exist to train batters to use the proper batting swing. For example, devices exist that include weights. However, the devices of the prior art, such as those described in United States Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0082126 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,561,930; 4,819,935; and 6,010,415 include weights near the barrel or striking region of the bat, which alone teaches an incorrect swing. Further U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,773 discloses a bat with an overall design that is heavier than a conventional bat, but it does not distribute the increased weight so as to reinforce the proper swing. U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,447 discloses a device with a single bore to receive weights, which may be distributed across the length of the bat using springs between the weights so as to replicate the weight of a conventional bat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,386 includes one weight located inside the handle of the bat for increasing the batter's strength. U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,387 discloses a bat with two handle portions, one movable and one non-movable, that both include finger grooves to help align the batter's hands.
Many of the weighted devices described above, as well as the commonly used batting doughnuts, include a weight placed near the barrel end of the bat. This weight arrangement creates an improper swing technique by forcing the barrel end of the bat away from the batter's body too early in the swing and creates a long, casting motion, causing the batter to drag the bat to contact, instead of employing the proper, short, compact, inside out swing. Some of the devices of the prior art are training bats which are heavier than conventional bats, but that distribute the weight evenly on the device and, therefore, only increase the batter's strength and do not teach the proper swing. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a device that teaches the proper, short, compact, inside out swing. There are also devices in the prior art which include finger grooves to help align the batter's hands and teach the proper grip and leading arm motion. However, these devices do not work in conjunction with weights to train the proper swing path. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a device that teaches the proper grip while also reinforcing the proper swing.